Blood on the Moon
by Lady Grissecon
Summary: A simple Auror’s mission goes horribly awry, changing Harry’s life forever, and leaving him to cope with the startling differences in himself, and the effects it will have on those who care about him.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** A simple Auror's mission goes horribly awry, changing Harry's life forever, and leaving him to cope with the startling differences in himself, and the effects it will have on those who care about him.

**Rating:** T/PG-13 at the highest. There might be some adult themes lurking in there every so often but I assure you they will be subtle; for the most part this is appropriate for all audiences. ;)

**Genre:** General, Action/Adventure, Hurt/Angst, Romance; HPDM, EWE, DH spoilers

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or any related themes/ideas. Anything you recognize is JKR's and anything you don't is mine, unless otherwise stated. Either that or you suck at attention to detail. d;

**Author's Notes:**This is an idea that has been sitting around in my brain for quite some time. Recently I decided to blow the dust off my plot notes and put this baby into action. It's definitely going to be a crazy ride, guys, this fic is loaded. ;) Comments and criticism are most definitely welcome.

**Chapter One**

The night sky was as clear as it could be, with stars sparkling like tiny diamonds in a vast blanket of black. Flashes of angry red, cerulean blue and vicious green took their turns briefly filling the darkness. The village of Godric's Hollow was far from peaceful on this first evening of March. The brick sign which marked the entrance had long since been blasted to pieces, and now the chunks of brick lay scattered haphazardly about the street in a most undignified way.

Villagers had ventured outside in their sleepwear to see the commotion for themselves. After all it was difficult to get a good view of their Savior hurtling curses at a band of misfits from inside your living room. Mothers clutched at their children, horrified looks plastered on their faces, but they couldn't seem to tear their eyes away. Rather like a wreck on the side of the road, you just couldn't help but slow down to see the damage for yourself.

Harry Potter was focused intently on his prey, the bystanders long forgotten. He was quite sure his team would help ensure they all remained safe, for that was exactly what he had brought them for. No one else could capture these miscreants, after all, for he was the great Harry Potter, he reminded himself bitterly. At any rate, they had run rampant through Godric's Hollow for far too long, and no one else was quite brave enough to pursue them, no matter what they claimed to the contrary.

So he ran, wand aloft, towards the black mass in front of him, his robes billowing out behind him in a theatrical display, which the onlookers all secretly enjoyed. He ignored their whooping and yelling; he told himself Ron and his team would take care of them… _he_ had some vampires to catch. They had caused enough turmoil for the innocent families here, Harry thought furiously, picking up his tiring feet and forcing them to move even quicker.

But oh, they were fast! He raced after them down the cobbled street, firing Stunner after Stunner, to no avail. He realized frustratingly that the undead were rather quick on their feet. "Stop!" he called after them angrily for what felt like the hundredth time, in a vain attempt to reconcile. "If you surrender yourself now I might be able to make things easier on you!"

He, of course, had no intention of making anything easier on these blood-sucking fiends, but they didn't need to know that. Not yet. Harry let loose a self-satisfied grin when the cluster of vampires stopped in their tracks and slowly turned around, their pale faces all bearing similar expressions of malice. The leader of the pack, one Renaldo Carsyn, motioned with one long-fingered hand for the rest to follow behind him, as he walked with carefully measured steps.

"Surrender?" he asked, his voice deceptively innocent. He smiled wickedly at Harry, flashing his fangs, in a way so reminiscent of Voldemort it made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand up. The vampire tutted and shook his head in an amused, patronizing way, taking another small step towards Harry, who tightened his grip on his wand and shot a glance to the other vampires, who for the moment seemed to pose no threat.

"I think not, Mr. Potter," Renaldo continued, twirling his wand slowly between his overlong fingers. His eyes surveyed Harry with a darkly amused look glistening in them, as though he was laughing inwardly at some private joke. Harry narrowed his eyes, silently daring him to carry on, and knowing he would, regardless. "We have only just begun."

Harry couldn't resist rolling his eyes at this incredible cliché (could these villains think of nothing original to say?) as the vampires all tittered obediently. "I've had enough of you biting innocents, Carsyn," Harry said, his voice low and deadly. His tolerance had run out long ago, and he was itching to Stun these imbeciles and have done with it, but protocol said he had to give them a chance to surrender, lest he force them into submission and they file a law suit against his department.

Renaldo gasped theatrically, as though offended by Harry's words, and stopped twirling his wand. "Oh, don't be like that, Mr. Potter… I am merely exercising the right to spread my culture," he explained, gesticulating widely with his hands as though this was the most obvious thing in the world, and Harry was a fool for not recognizing it. "Surely you have not come here to tell me it is illegal for me to breed."

"It is when you're stealing the lives of innocent children to do so," Harry snarled, raising his wand and deciding enough was enough; he hadn't come here for small talk. "You will surrender now, Carsyn, if you know what's good for you and your _children_," he spat the world out of his mouth like a poison.

Harry thought _Stupefy!_ with all his might and a jet of red light shot towards the vampires, who scattered frantically to avoid the spell. "Not today, Potter!" Carsyn cried, the serenity gone from his voice now to be replaced by outright fury. He lunged, pale hands outstretched, firing curse after curse towards Harry, who struggled to keep up his Shield Charms in defense.

Harry forced himself not to call out for help; forced himself to keep his eyes fixed on the vampires that were quickly surrounding him, rather than look for his partner. He could only hope Ron and the rest would find him before things got too out of hand, because he could not afford any distractions at the moment, as the vampires began tightening their circle around him.

"Foolish, naïve little Harry Potter…" Carsyn cooed, stepping into the circle with a malicious grin on his face. His fangs glistened dangerously in the moonlight, a silent threat against Harry's life. Harry himself struggled to keep his composure as the vampire stalked towards him, like a lioness closing in on her prey. "You do realize I cannot let you leave unscathed… no, I must make an example of you," said Carsyn. His tone may have suggested he was reluctant to do so, but Harry could tell by the gleam in his eye that he was positively ecstatic. Harry tightened his grip on his wand and readied himself for a fight.

"Have your friends take your mangled body back to the Ministry and let it stand as a warning for all who dare to cross the path of Renaldo Carsyn!" he screamed, and once again lunged for Harry, who whipped his wand about and threw up a Shield Charm between them. This seemed to further infuriate Carsyn, who yelled, "Do not hide behind your magic, you spineless coward!" and began throwing curses at the shield, only to have them bounce off and into the brilliant night sky.

_Harry Potter, a coward? Never! _he thought incredulously. He bristled immediately and, blinded by his own need to prove himself, released the Shield Charm with a wave of his wand and said angrily, "There! No shield for me to hide behind now, Carsyn! Come and take me, if you can!"

Carsyn, who was barking orders Harry couldn't quite hear to his posse (damn their keen sense of hearing, he thought), turned to face Harry again, and that disgusting grin returned to his face. Harry thought he might say something, mock him further, but instead he simply stood there, crossing his arms, with a gloating expression on his face. Harry had a split second to wonder what exactly he was happy about before he felt the chilling hands of his parasite children clawing at him, holding him in place.

Renaldo laughed at him, mockingly, as Harry struggled against the vice-like grip of his twenty-plus children, silently cursing himself for his lapse of judgment which, however brief, may have cost him his life. Renaldo Carsyn slowly approached him and, despite his best efforts to hold onto it, plucked his wand from his hand. Harry fought back a whimper.

"Tut, tut…" Renaldo began, shaking his head and twirling Harry's wand in his fingers casually. "I had hoped for a better fight out of you, Potter… it seems I was wrong to expect too much of the Savior! It is true what they say, then, that you rely on sheer dumb luck and more intelligent friends, rather than talent of your own," he said mockingly.

"Lucky for me I brought some of those friends along with me, isn't it?" Harry said sarcastically, struggling even more against the vampires' grip, watching painfully as his beloved wand lay in the hands of a vicious criminal. His wand, which had lasted so long… He looked around desperately to see if his colleagues had heard the fight, but he couldn't see around the massive cloud of vampires surrounding him.

"Yes… and lucky for me even they can't help you now," Carsyn said, grinning in that creepy way again, and he advanced quickly on Harry, his cloak swirling around him so all he could see was darkness. Harry writhed and twisted with all his strength, but it was no use—they were stronger than him, a mere mortal.

He shook his head violently, surely giving himself whiplash, as Carsyn advanced on him, that grin never wavering. He thought he heard Ron crying out for him, and he tried to respond, but Carsyn was touching his lips to Harry's throat, and he felt a stabbing pain in his neck before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to all of you for waiting (not so) patiently for the second chapter! :P Before you go off to read, please give a round of applause to my lovely beta, Julia, whom I adore. 33 And, as usual, any comments/criticism you can think of, please do not hesitate to let me know. ^__^

**Chapter Two**

Harry swam slowly into consciousness and winced at the bright light that threatened to invade his closed eyelids, making him see orange and spurring his headache to dizzying heights. He frowned and twisted blindly in the foreign bed, discovering a curious ache in his neck muscles as he did so. He fisted his hands into the thin sheets covering his curiously chilled body and wondering what exactly had happened to him.

Reluctantly Harry opened his eyes and winced at the excruciatingly bright light that pressed into his eyes. His head throbbed more viciously as he struggled to sit up, taking in his surroundings and cursing those luminescent torches as he did so. He knew for certain he was in St. Mungo's, judging by that atrocious and grudgingly familiar wallpaper, but what floor or which ward he just couldn't tell.

The side of his neck pulsed painfully again and suddenly memories of his predicament came flooding back to him, like water rushing over and around a collapsed dam. He cursed loudly, his voice raspy with disuse, and he clapped a hand to his neck in horror. Surely this didn't mean what he thought it meant! He was Harry Potter! He couldn't be…

"Harry! Oh, _Harry_, you're alright!"

He was jerked from his raging inner turmoil by the massive horde of people who suddenly made their way into his room, which was looking decidedly smaller every second. He winced as they all shuffled in, exclaiming their relief quite loudly, and because of his headache only succeeded in putting him in a sour mood.

Ginny Weasley came first; she rushed to the bed and immediately wrapped her arms around him in a hug that made him wince, stroking his hair and whispering into his ear, assuring him that everything was going to be okay. Harry fought the urge to shrug her off—he didn't particularly feel like being smothered at the moment; he just wanted to know what the hell was going to happen to him and why he was wearing a very thin nightgown.

Ron and Hermione came next, clutching at each others' hands and wearing identical looks of solemnity. Ron nodded at him grimly and Hermione gave him a watery smile, pushing Ginny aside to give him another of those bone-crushing embraces. He returned the hug half-heartedly, his eyes fixed on the door as Dean Thomas, George Weasley, and Kingsley Shacklebolt also entered the now desperately cramped hospital room.

There was a moment of tense silence following everyone's cries of happiness, exclamations of how they all positively knew he'd be okay, contradictory to their identical looks of vast relief, which Harry was quite used to by this time. Harry's visitors all stared at him solemnly, curiously, as if expecting him to make a speech.

So, of course, Harry blurted out the first thing that popped into his head: "What the hell happened to me?" he demanded, staring around at all of them in turn, giving—Ron and Kingsley especially—the infamous and quite frequently used I-am-Harry-Potter-and-I-want-to-know-why-I'm-in-the-hospital-_now_ look.

Of course, he knew very well what had happened to him. He could recall all too easily the swirling mass of parasites closing in on him, Ron's panicked voice echoing in the distance, and that searing pain in his neck… But it was imperative to learn the public version, to view his tragedy from the outside, so that he might find a way to hide the horrible truth, which was really starting to creep up on him by this point, just like that ominous swarm of vampires.

He stared at them all expectantly, his hands turned palms-up and his eyebrows raised, while they fiddled awkwardly with the hems of their shirts and avoided looking anyone in the eye. Harry huffed indignantly and surveyed them all carefully, looking for a weak link, and found it predictably in Hermione's face.

"Hermione," he said slowly. His tone was as pleasant as he could make it under such tense circumstances, but his eyes bore into hers with a warning that none of them missed, and so no one was surprised when she broke his gaze with a sigh. Harry noticed the swift looks of relief that passed through each of his companions' faces like a wave, as though they were glad they would not have to relay the news to him.

"What's happened to me?" he asked, really only a formality at this point. She began to wring her hands nervously, eyebrows knitting together in anxiety, and Harry fought back a self-satisfied grin, but his moment of victory couldn't last long. Hermione opened her mouth to speak, the corners of which were strained in an altogether inauspicious way.

"Harry…" she began, hesitantly stepping forwards to touch the railing at the foot of his bed. He simply rose his eyebrows higher; internally his heart was pounding so fiercely he feared it would betray him. "We… Oh, Harry… I'm afraid…" Here she paused and turned to survey the others in the room, who all looked back at her with similar expressions of mixed encouragement and somberness.

"_What_, Hermione?" Harry shot at her urgently, his voice growing snippy in his anticipation. Anxiety—and another emotion he dared not identify by name, which would smell a lot like fear, if he wasn't so deep in denial—threatened to overwhelm him, and he was tired of all this hesitance.

"I'm afraid…" she continued, looking more anxious by the second, "you were attacked, when you were rounding up those rogue vampires." She paused again and studied his face, as though that alone would give away the whole story. Perhaps they thought he had lost his memory? Harry nodded his head, signaling her to continue. "And that _vile_ man—their leader, Corvin—"

"Carsyn," Ron interrupted needlessly under his breath; Hermione shot him a pleading glare, but otherwise did not acknowledge him.

"What I'm trying to say is…" Hermione took a deep breath, steeling herself. When she next spoke her voice so quiet they all had to strain their ears to hear, though they all knew what was coming. All but one.

"You've been bitten."

Harry stared at her with his mouth open and his eyes openly burning with fear—why bother to hide it, now that his secret was revealed? They were all as afraid as he. His hand subconsciously rose to caress the side of his neck, fingers shaking. He nearly choked on his own tongue when he felt two small puncture wounds there, and though he could not see them, he could envision quite accurately what they must look like by this point.

The wounds themselves were bright red and had not scabbed over, but no blood was pouring from them, which somehow struck Harry as a sign of danger. The spindly veins surrounding the puncture marks stood out in stark contrast against his abnormally-pale skin, vibrant blue and grotesque.


End file.
